OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 02: A sign is posted outside of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Rockridge station on August 2, 2013 in Oakland, California. San Francisco Bay Area commuters are bracing for the possibility of a BART strike as a 30-day contract extension is set to expire on August 4 at midnight. Unions representing BART workers announced a 72-hour notice of intent to strike yesterday as BART management and union officials continue to negotiate a new contract. An estimated 400,000 people ride BART each day. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The BART deal was bad for management, which capitulated on pay and benefits without getting all the work-rule changes it wanted and efficiency demanded. It was lousy for riders, whose days of inconvenience will surely be followed by fare increases. And it may ultimately prove to be bad for the unions, whose gamesmanship has forced the issue of whether transit workers should have the right to strike.

A four-day strike spanning last weekend showed the disruption that a shutdown can bring, leaving 400,000 daily riders to jam freeways for long hours behind the wheel.

Meanwhile, most Democratic lawmakers refused to exert any pressure on unions, weakening management's hand. Unlike some other big-city transit operations, BART workers are free to strike.

The Bay Area is poorly served by this dysfunctional system and its exhausting cycle of brinksmanship. Two public employee unions are walking away with sizable salary increases, only modest givebacks on fringes and preservation of some outdated work rules.

Months of negotiations, which included a brief strike in July, moved the momentum in only one direction: toward labor demands that yielded few efficiencies and improvements for the public.

For a region designed to depend on public transit, a BART shutdown is a huge hit on the economy.

It's time to consider binding arbitration as a route to resolution of these disputes: Each side presents its final offer, and an independent party decides which is more reasonable. Such a system, which would forbid strikes, faces long odds in a Democratic-controlled Legislature where labor has great clout and is loath to cede its ultimate tool of leverage.

But the politics could be changing with the public anger over the latest BART strike. State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, signaled Wednesday that he will pursue "every possible remedy to ensure this never happens again."

His resolve, and that of his colleagues, is about to be tested.

The deal

Salary: Maintenance workers, station agents and train operators will get a 15.4 percent wage increase over four years. BART offered 12 percent last week.

Fringes: Employees who pay nothing toward pensions will pay 4 percent after four years. Workers may get extra salary to cover most of the deductions. BART wanted a 6 percent contribution.

Health: $92-per-month coverage rises to $130. Management had complained about soaring premiums but accepted the last figure.

Work rules: Overtime rules involving sick pay and extra shifts will be capped but not eliminated. Bulletproof glass will be installed in 15 station-agent booths. BART will gain ground in wider use of technology.